Unstoppable Power
by swordkorn
Summary: An old friendship tested... a new beginning needed... Love is an unstoppable power.


_This is a work of fiction. All characters belong to the Yu-Gi-Oh creators. Original characters intellectual property of me._

* * *

As the ocean breeze washed over him, the now 25 year old Joey sat alone. It had been years since Atem had been freed from the Millenium Puzzle and he hadn't had chance to hang out with the gang in a while. Not that it was any of their faults of course; Yugi had gone on to host multiple Duel Monsters championships around the globe and Tristan had married Serenity. That knowledge of them being together still left a bitter after taste in his mouth, but he was content knowing his sister was happy at least.

As for him, it had never happened. Not from a lack of trying of course, but after his rough break up from Tea, she had moved on to reconcile with Yugi. The wedding was next month, and he was going to be Yugi's best man. He couldn't complain, all things considered. At his last world tournament he had placed first and won $50 million! Good thing Yugi was only the sponsor or Joey would have been in serious trouble with the fierce competition coming up through the younger ranks!

He had finally decided to leave Duel Monsters behind him and try to settle down. As far as any outsider could tell, he had it all. Huge house by the sea, flashy cars, and never wanted for anything! Yeah he had a pretty good life going all things considered; but Joey was painfully lonely and his dreams weren't helping.

For years now he'd found himself dreaming of a mysterious woman with blonde hair. Her appearance was always obscured, but he awoke each time unable to think of anyone else. It had been this dream woman of his that drove him away from Tea. Somehow he knew that the woman in his dreams was real, but he had been totally unsuccesful in finding her despite his best efforts.

Joey sighed, breaking his gaze from the horizon he had lost his thoughts to; "Come on Wheeler! Ya can't be mopin' around here all day!"

He forced himself to get up and headed back home. He had battled internally with the identity of this blonde seductress multiple times. He only ever came to one conclusion, but he refused to accept it as she hadn't been around for years! The last he'd seen or heard of Mai Valentine was just after he graduated from High School when she sent him a letter congratulating him and all the guys for making it. He knew Mai would never be interested in him, yet he still found his sub-conscious mind drawn to her as the only possible candidate for his dream woman. So for years he had been denying to himself that she could be interested, let alone the woman he longed for!

Didn't stop the dreams though...

* * *

Mai scoffed; "You call yourself a Duellist?! Please! After that pitiful performance I wouldn't even call you a man!"

"I COULD HAVE BEATEN YOU IF YOU HADN'T PLAYED THAT CYBER HARPIE!" screamed Tenaka.

"Please... with a deck as weak as yours and your complete lack of faith in your cards... I could have beaten you without a single monster in my deck!" Mai shook her head and walked away. "Maybe next time Tenaka! But for today... you're still just an amateur!" Tenaka scowled and slumped off in the opposite direction.

Mai sighed. Every duel was too easy for her these days. She missed the old days when she used to go up against the best duellists she ever had the privilege to call friends. She missed Yugi (and to a degree... Tea...) but above all else, she missed Joey. She always thought it was because she wanted a rematch to finally beat him, but deep down she knew it was more than that.

Mai continued to walk, her thoughts turning to Joey once again; "Arrogant brat! I'll defeat you yet!" She stopped, brushing a band of brilliant blonde hair from her face. As the words left her mouth, she felt a large weight in her heart and she looked solemn at the thought of not seeing him since their last duel.

She had tried to keep in touch of course; but when he hadn't replied to her last letter congratulating him on his graduation, she had all but given up hope of ever seeing him again. The thought of Joey's cocky smile and confident demeanour made her flutter for a moment, and she pulled her phone out looking for his number.

Maybe this time...

* * *

Joey entered the house. It was a quaint property, seeing as he lived alone. A simple beach-side chalet but with all the mod cons he could ever hope for thrown in! After Serenity moved out to live with Tristan, the chalet had been fairly lonesome for Joey. Not that it got him down! After living most of his life with his father in a run down side of town, Joey found the smallest things a blessing even to this day.

Stepping through the front door revealed a large open plan sitting room with kitchen-diner ensemble. The room was finished simply yet with enough elegance to reflect a post-modern motive that would leave any visitor jaw dropped. On a side wall running at least three quarters the length of it and stretching from wall to ceiling was a large projector screen, accompanied by a state of the art surround sound system. Despite this impressive span and show of wealth, sitting out of place in the centre of the room was a small, brown leather love seat sofa. He had money, but Joey preferred the smaller sofa as it was just himself most of the time.

"Ah... home sweet home!" Joey kicked off his shoes and launched himself onto the love seat lying across both seats, his gangly legs flopping over the arm of the sofa as he went to turn on the projector.

His phone rang...

* * *

 _Hi guys! Firstly, let me thank you for reading this intro to my story! I know I may have pushed some buttons with some back story and my choice of pairings for other characters; but I assure you it's all to provide additional story points later on._

 _I know this intro chapter is short, but I'm testing the waters a little first of all and trying to get my writing juices flowing again so for now, I hope you enjoy and will be kind enough to give me your thoughts on my narrative direction!_

 _Have a great day!_


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